


Piece by Piece

by JadelynTate



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Darcy Lewis-centric, Don't touch Tony's stuff, F/M, Family Drama, Family Feels, Gen, Team as Family, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-12 16:57:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7114459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadelynTate/pseuds/JadelynTate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy's long absent father comes back into her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, going in a completely different direction for Darcy’s backstory…this one’s not gonna be full of fluffy goodness. Sorry folks. :(

**_And all I remember is your back_  
Walking towards the airport, leaving us all in your past  
I traveled fifteen hundred miles to see you  
Begged you to want me, but you didn't want to  
“Piece By Piece” Kelly Clarkson**

“Miss Lewis, you have a visitor,” FRIDAY announced one chilly day in November. Darcy looked up, confused. 

“What?” she asked, blinking repeatedly. “I don’t have a meeting scheduled, do I?” There was nothing on her calendar this morning when she’d checked. 

Her assistant was ridiculously organized about such things but it wouldn’t be the first time Riley had forgotten to add something. Everyone screws up sometime. 

“No, it does not appear he is scheduled,” FRIDAY assured her and Darcy frowned even more. 

“Okay…so who is he?” 

“He says his name is Michael Lewis,” the AI answered and if she said anything after that, Darcy didn’t hear it.

Michael Lewis…that was a name she hadn’t heard or even thought about since New Mexico, when she and Jane had discussed their parents. Jane, thankfully, had never brought him up again after that and Erik either, after she found him eavesdropping. The only evidence they’d even had the conversation, besides the massive hangovers she and Jane had the day after, was that Erik started treating her more like he did Jane, like a daughter. 

Michael Lewis, the man who donated half of her DNA, had left when she was six. Just walked out the door, telling her mom he couldn’t “do this anymore, what do you want from me Charlotte, Jesus.” 

She’d begged him to stay, some small part of her realizing this wasn’t like when he’d go to work as a night guard. He’d shrugged her off, never even looked at her as he disappeared into the car he’d bought the week before. She can still remember the sound of him peeling out of the drive-way, the smell of the burning rubber, the sight of the black marks blurry through her tears. 

She doesn’t remember much about her childhood but she does remember that day with crystal clarity. 

“What is he doing here?” she whispered, not expecting an answer. She should have known better, though, because FRIDAY was not JARVIS and was still learning. 

“He says he’s here to meet with you, should I send him up?” the AI asked. 

“I…yes,” she said, shaking off her unease and swallowing down the need to throw up. “Have whoever is on duty bring him up.” 

That done, she didn’t know what to do with herself as she waited. She had her own office, a large, bright room full of bullet-proof, shatterproof glass windows. She could see the Statue of Liberty from her office, something she loved. Right then though she was a bundle of emotions all mixed up. She fiddled with the pens on her desk, moved three stacks of files around until they all ended up exactly where they started, opened up four different social media pages on her laptop before minimizing them again. It was almost a relief when the door to her office opened and her father came in. 

His eyes were a cloudier shade of blue than he remembered. His short messy black hair was streaked liberally with gray, he had silver and black stubble on his chin that wasn’t artful like Bucky’s when he was in a mood—no, it looked more like he just hadn’t shaved this morning. His skin was sunken in, a lot more than she remembered from the last time she’d seen him. 

Her father was in her office. 

In Stark Tower. 

After she hadn’t seen him since she was sixteen.

What the hell?!

“Hi,” she said, standing up. She wondered a moment if she should offer him a hand to shake or…?

“Darcy,” he smiled and she swallowed at the familiar voice, though rougher than she remembered it to be. He looked around her office and she took a moment to do the same, suddenly seeing it through the eyes of someone new. 

One entire wall was nothing but shelves. While she had books there, the majority of the stuff on it was toys, pictures, and various knick-knacks she’d been gifted by the team. It had started with her joking with Natasha to bring her back a souvenir when she went to Peru and the woman brought her a beautiful carving of a cat that was black with various multi-colored swirls painted on it. She’d put it on her desk in Jane’s lab, back before she’d ever gotten this position, and a week later Clint had shown up with a set of silver monkey’s in the see, hear, and speak no evil poses. Like the cat, she kept them on her desk. Next thing she’d known, almost every Avenger mission ended with various knick-knacks gracing her section of the lab.

When she’d been given the office, Pepper had specifically had the shelves put in to hold her ridiculous collection. Each member of the team had a spot, and though it was cluttered, she’d always loved it. 

Now she couldn’t help looking at it and seeing how unprofessional it probably looked. 

“How are you?” she asked because she didn’t really know what else to say. He turned back from where his eyes had been lingering on a picture of her with Tony, her on his back and the look of utter panic on his face right before they’d collapsed on the ground. Pepper was in the background, her phone up as she took pictures through her laughter. 

“I’m doing well,” he told her.

“And the diner?” When she’d come looking for him when she’d been a kid, he’d owned a diner with his friend. 

“Good, good, you should come by sometime,” he told her, eyes bright. “I’m looking to expand, actually.” 

“Really?” She didn’t recall the diner being that successful…of course, it had also been over ten years ago so…

“Yeah, there’s a small place a couple blocks up,” he told her. “It’s smaller than my place now but it’s in a better location.” 

“That sounds good,” she said. 

“And you?” he asked. He smiled slightly. “Nice office.” 

“Yeah,” she agreed. “I, uh, I’m the Public Relations Director for the Avengers.” Which he had to know already…

“Sounds like a good gig,” he told her, eyes flickering around again. He was fidgeting, she realized, just as weirded out by this as she was. “I saw you on the news yesterday. Talking about that squid thing.” 

“Yeah,” she said, relief pouring through her. This she could talk about. “Part of the job, calming the masses after the team has to be deployed. It wasn’t a big deal though, like I said. Just lots and lots of calamari jokes.” 

He chuckled. “So I heard,” he said. “One of the news stations was close enough to hear Ironman when he was shooting at the things.” 

“Yeah, well, it’s Tony,” she shrugged. “No one was really surprised.” 

What she didn’t say was that Tony was not the only one making the jokes, he was just the only one who had been heard. Even Steve had made a few cracks about this cementing his aversion to seafood. 

“Tony, right,” he said and shook his head. “You’ve really moved up in the world, haven’t you kid?” 

“I guess,” she said. Then, because apparently she couldn’t keep her mouth shut, “Have you talked to mom?” 

“Uh, no, she doesn’t know I’m here,” he said, shifting in his seat. “I wanted to see you without her knowing.” 

“Why?”

“Hey, you want to get lunch?” he asked in the most obvious attempt at changing the subject _ever_. 

“Dad.” And wasn’t that the weirdest thing to come out of her mouth in the last several, oh, years? She’d jokingly called Tony dad more than once but this…

Her father sighed. “Your mother has a lot of…hard feelings…about our divorce,” he with the tone of someone trying desperately to tip-toe around something they didn’t want to talk about.

“When you left you mean,” she said and he winced. “Cause, you know, that’s what you did.” 

“I know,” he said and he looked down at his hands. “I…I did, I left. A while back one of my servers brought his kid in, about seven, and I realized just what I’d missed out on with you, kiddo. I wanted to find you then but I knew what your mother would say and I didn’t know how else to contact you. Then I saw you on the news and…I’d like to make it up to you, if I can?”

Before she could answer, not that she knew what the hell to say to that, the door of her office flew open and Tony sauntered in. He stopped when he realized she had someone there with her. A look of confusion flashed across his face before he shrugged it off. 

“Lewis, you ready to head out?” he asked. “Capsicle’s stomach may just eat itself if we don’t get food in it soon.” 

Her eyes widened. “I forgot,” she told him and then looked up. “FRIDAY, tell Steve to go to the restaurant and we’ll meet him there. Also, I want wontons. All the wontons.” 

There was a pause while she waited for FRIDAY’s response and resolutely did not watch her father and Tony Stark stare at each other with assessing gazes. 

“Captain Rogers says okay and that he will have all the wontons ready for you when you get there,” FRIDAY finally said. “He also says to tell you that Sergeant Barnes has decided to join you.” 

“Of course he did,” she sighed. “Contact the restaurant and warn them please?”

“Yes, Miss Lewis.” 

“So who are you?” Tony, who’d been remarkably quiet as he waited, finally seemed to have had enough. He was looking directly at her father, a suspicious look on his face. “Double-D didn’t say she had any meetings today.” 

“He dropped in to surprise me,” Darcy said and and whoo, had he surprised her. She took a deep breath. “Tony, this is my father, Michael Lewis. Dad, this is Tony Stark…though I think you probably knew that.” 

She might have been imagining it but she could have sworn she saw a look of pure disgust flash across Tony’s face as he looked at her father. She blinked and he was smiling at the other man with the same look he reserved for pretty much anyone not the family. 

“So you’re the other half of the Double-D DNA,” he said conversationally. “I’ve met her mother, wonderful woman. A bit too mother-hen for me but…” he shrugged. 

“Mom would stop mother-henning you if you’d stop getting yourself in trouble,” she pointed out and he mock-glared at her. 

“I am the soul of safety,” he informed her and she snorted. 

“Not from what I’ve seen on the news,” her father said and they both turned to him. He had his arms crossed as he stared Tony down. “Wasn’t there a thing a few weeks ago with a rabid dog?” 

Darcy snorted a laugh as her father managed to touch upon the one thing that was sure to get Tony pouting. Sure enough, there he went. 

“There was extenuating circumstances,” he informed him in a superior, snooty tone. He crossed his arms too and looked Michael up and down. “You know, we’re about to have lunch, you should come,” he said abruptly. 

Darcy blinked at the random and completely off-topic invitation. “Wait, what?” she asked at the same time her father accepted. “Tony…” 

“He’s your dad, Short Stack,” he threw out with a wicked grin. “I know Cap and Barnes would love to meet him.” 

And Tony would get a show, she realized with a sigh. Cause Steve had never had to deal with the father of his girl thing before and was likely to try and make the very best impression—which usually didn’t end well. Yeah, put him the suit and being Cap and he did great. Out of the suit and in a social encounter as Steve Rogers? Awkward. All the awkward. And Barnes would be no help whatsoever because he’d be right there with Tony, watching the show and egging it all on. 

“Alright,” she sighed and went to grab her things. More lowly she muttered, “This is not going to end well.” 

“Have some faith,” Tony said, an odd look in his eyes as he moved to help her into her jacket. Michael stood fidgeting near the door, watching them like a hawk. Tony paused, a hand on her arm. “Trust me, Darcy.” 

She studied him a moment. Seeing the unusually serious look on his face, she nodded slowly.

“Okay,” she said. She looked back at her dad and smiled. “Ready?” 

“Lead the way.”


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing blows up at lunch, so Darcy is considering it a win.

**_And all of your words fall flat  
I made something of myself and now you wanna come back_  
“Piece by Piece” Kelly Clarkson**

When they’d gotten down to the underground parking lot, they’d been met by Happy. He didn’t often drive Tony anymore, being head of SI security and all, but occasionally he and Tony got all nostalgic, pretended they weren’t, and Happy would drive. It always caused Darcy to smile and crack jokes but when her dad just went with it, it was a stark (ha!) reminder that her father was not part of her normal every-day life. 

The drive to the restaurant was quiet on the Lewis front, neither she nor her father talking much. It was awkward, almost to the point of painful, but for Tony. 

He babbled the entire drive about her, work, her, avenging, her, Pepper, and oh, did she mention? Her.

If he was trying to make her look good he was doing a really, really good job of it because wow, she had never heard him say half the things he was saying about her. 

When they finally arrived and got out, her father coming around the street side, she tugged on Tony’s hand and looked up at him with a frown. “What are you doing?” she asked quietly. 

“He’s your dad,” he shrugged and then wrapped an arm around her shoulders, oblivious to the look her father was sending. He looked over at Happy. “You coming in to join us?” 

“Nah, I think I’ll stay here, I have to check in with the Tokyo office,” he answered and slipped back in the car. 

Shrugging, Tony steered her back into the little hole in the wall restaurant they frequented. It was small enough no one ever thought to look for them there, big enough they could handle large Avenger groups and their various appetites, and it was run by one of the few people who had known Steve and Bucky back in the forties. 

Abigail Martin had been the younger sister of one of Bucky and Steve’s old school friends and a close friend of Bucky’s sister Rebecca. Their family had run the little restaurant even back then but her brother had never been interested in taking on the family business. Instead, like Bucky, Robert had joined the 107th. He had died during the war, in the very battle that had seen Bucky captured by HYDRA the first time. After his death, she’d gone on to marry and have kids. She and her husband had taken over the family restaurant after a lot of arguing with her parents about it, who had thought to pass it to her male cousin. 

During one of Steve’s many attempts at seeing what had changed in New York, he and Bucky had gone to the restaurant with Darcy. They’d been pleasantly surprised to find it still up and running, looking a lot like they remembered it. Abigail’s granddaughter, Becca, had immediately recognized them and called her grandma. They hadn’t heard the discussion, but they’d seen the call, so they’d thought the paparazzi would be outside when they finally left. 

Instead, about ten minutes later, Abigail came into the restaurant, cheerfully greeting the regulars but making a beeline for her brother’s old friends. 

Darcy smiled at the memory as they stepped into the comforting place, seeing Abigail already chatting gaily with Bucky and Steve in the corner. To her surprise, Barton and Natasha were also there, laughing about something as they chatted. 

“Hello all!” Tony greeted the room. The place was filled with regulars, all of whom had respected Abigail’s request for privacy of the team. They all waved back or ignored him, depending on who they were, and Tony strode forward to start arguing with Abigail about letting him renovate the place for her. It was an ongoing argument that Tony was never going to win but they both seemed to enjoy it so she and Pepper usually didn’t try to interfere. 

“Hey guys,” Darcy greeted the team, waving over at one of Abigail’s grandsons. He tripped over his own two feet and she winced. 

“That boy is a walking menace,” Barton said, shaking his head with a laugh as Darcy slid into the seat next to Steve’s, with Michael taking the one on her other side, in between her and Natasha.

“Who’s this?” Bucky asked and Darcy suddenly realized he, Natasha, and Steve were all staring at Michael in suspicion and confusion. The elder Lewis was staring back with a bit of shock. 

“Oh, uh, guys, this is my father, Michael Lewis,” she said, waving a hand at him. “He stopped by today to say hi. Dad, this is Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, and the lady Tony is arguing with is Abigail Martin, the kickass lady who owns this fantastic place.” 

“You’re Darcy’s father?” Steve asked, voice slightly strangled and posture going rim-rod straight. Michael nodded and Darcy busied herself with the menu, even though she knew the damn thing by heart. Because of this, she didn’t see the way three pairs of eyes narrowed as they dissected the man with their gaze. Nor did she see when Abigail raised a single eyebrow at Tony and his answering, grim, nod. 

Michael didn’t notice either because he was in a staring contest with Darcy’s boyfriend. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet Darcy’s father,” Abigail said after a few moments of the silent stare-off. "She’s a fantastic young lady. You must be very proud.” 

“I, yes,” he said, breaking off the contest to look at Abigail. “I am.” 

Darcy smiled shyly at the praise, hiding it behind her menu again. The table was silent again until suddenly she felt Steve jerk next to her. She lowered her menu to see him grimace and give Bucky a dirty look. Bucky just tilted his head. Abigail quietly left, heading for the kitchen. Whenever they came in, she usually did too so she could do their cooking herself. 

“So what do you do, Mr. Lewis?” Steve asked, after clearing his voice.

“I actually own a small diner,” her father told him. “I’m thinking of moving to a different spot though.” 

“Oh?” Natasha asked and Darcy lowered her menu completely to frown at the other woman. That was the tone she usually used with annoying reporters who only ever seemed to ask about her catsuit and her workout regime. 

“Yeah, like I was telling Darcy, I found a better location,” he said, smiling in what she was sure he thought was a charming way at the redhead. “It’s smaller but if I can get settled there, I could make a killing.” 

“A better location means more in rent,” Clint said. “My brother used to live in one so when people came in, he’d cook. He’s a detective though so it was just a side thing.” 

“Also, he should not be allowed near a stove,” Natasha rolled her eyes. Clint smirked and didn’t argue. 

“I can afford it, barely,” her dad said, giving a rough chuckle at the byplay. “I have to admit though, it’ll be tight. I’ll be eating a lot of left-overs for a couple months.” 

“I could help,” Tony said and Darcy blinked at him. He was ignoring her, though, staring at her father with a dissecting look. “I’ll stop by, take a look. Not sure when though, we have several meetings coming up.” 

Now Darcy knew something was up. Tony _hated_ meetings of any kind. He’d normally do whatever it took to avoid them. 

Her father nodded, looking pleased. “I’d like that, thank you,” he said. 

“Hey, punk, maybe you could take D over to her Pops place for dinner,” Bucky said suddenly and with a wicked grin.

“Yeah, weren’t you complaining a while back about finding some new places to try out?” Clint added, head tilted bird-like. She kicked out at him and he grimaced but didn’t back down. 

“Oh, uh, yeah, that would…Darcy?” Steve stumbled, looking down at her. She looked back at him and his nerves settled. He smiled ruefully at her. “We have gotten in a rut.” 

“We have,” she agreed. “We could try it, I suppose.”

“Thursday?” he asked her and she nodded, making a mental note to double check the address with her father before they parted. Speaking of her father…

Her dad was looking between her and Steve with a furrowed brow. Steve was fidgeting again, playing with his napkin and periodically looking back up, catching Michael’s eye, and then looking back down. Bucky was leaning back in his chair, Tony and Barton doing the same next to him. They all had identical gleeful looks on their faces. Darcy looked at Natasha hopefully but the redhead shook her head. Her eyes narrowed and the redhead smirked, picking up her glass of water to hide it. 

“Traitors,” she said under her breath, knowing the three with super serum would hear her. Tony would probably guess what she’d said and Clint could read lips if he was paying attention. Soft snickers met her accusation. 

“I think…Darcy?” her father finally said, looking at her. 

“It’s…not exactly a huge secret,” she said hesitantly. “Though we keep it relatively quiet.”

“I’m dating Darcy,” Steve and she didn’t need to look to know her boyfriend had his Captain look on. She could hear it in his damn voice. 

She looked over in time to see her dad’s eyes widen with a flicker of what she thought was delight. It disappeared quickly though, replaced with a contemplative expression. 

“And how long have you been dating my daughter?” he asked, voice carefully even. Clint, Bucky, and Tony all laughed. Natasha smirked. 

Steve was resigned as he looked at her father. “It’s considered a matter of debate,” he told him with a lopsided smile. 

“We were sort of dating before we realized what we were doing,” Darcy admitted ruefully. “So officially, it’s been about four months. Unofficially…more like seven.” 

“And no one has figured it out?” her father asked, looking between them before focusing on Steve. “You’re not exactly easy to overlook.” 

“We’ve been really careful about it out of the Tower,” Darcy said with a shrug. “But with me being the team’s PR person, it’s easy to be ignored or written off as official stuff.” 

“They actually thought she was dating Barnes for a while,” Tony offered. Bucky and Darcy both grimaced and Tony smiled cheekily back at them. Steve just rolled his eyes. “And there was that ‘vicious triangle’ rumor too,” Tony added with a smirk at Natasha and Clint. 

“I’m not sure…” her dad started but trailed off. 

“A tabloid ran an article saying Clint was cheating on me with Darcy,” Natasha said serenely. There was no mention of what had finally stopped that particular rumor, for which Darcy was eternally grateful. 

“In fact,” Clint said, head tilted as he considered it. “I think Steve’s the only one she _hasn’t_ been romantically linked to.” 

The rest of the group all blinked at that. “No, wait, they’ve never linked you with her,” Bucky said, looking at Tony. The billionaire shook his head. 

“Threesome with Pepper, remember?” he said and Bucky nodded. 

“I think you’re right,” Steve said slowly with a smile. “Huh. Never realized that.” 

“So either we’re way better than we thought or the paps are really just that stupid,” Darcy told him and most of the table laughed. Before Steve could reply to that, Abigail came back with their food. 

“We didn’t order,” her dad said, looking down at his burger and fries with a frown. 

“They never do so I just made you Darcy’s normal,” Abigail said with a brief, tight smile at him. Then she busied herself with getting the heaping plates for Steve and Bucky on the table. 

“Are they really going to eat all that?” her father asked in a low voice, eying the plates skeptically. 

“Super serum,” she shrugged, popping a fry in her mouth. “They eat a lot.” 

He nodded and went to his food, a look of pleasant surprise on his face at his first taste of the burger. “This is fantastic,” he said, swallowing his bite. He looked up at Abigail. “What spices do you use on the hamburger?” 

“Family secret,” she answered with a smug smile at the popular question. “Enjoy.”

~~*~~

Lunch ended up being an enjoyable affair, even if there had been a tense undercurrent that was hard to ignore between her father and the rest of the team. She and her dad made plans to meet at Central Park the next day, just the two of them, on her lunch break. 

“Barring an Avengers emergency,” she’d tacked on as an afterthought. He’d nodded, clearly not taking it serious. Luckily, nothing happened the next day that required a cancellation so they were able to meet for hot-dogs. They continued like that, meeting every day for lunch to get caught up on their lives. 

She found out he was apparently dating a waitress, though not one of his own. The woman, Sherri, had a son about seven years old. She’d met Sherri and Sean when she’d gone to the restaurant to check it out. Tony hadn’t gone yet at that point, too busy with a new science project he, Bruce, and Jane had come up with. Sean had been starstruck meeting her, even though she’d told him no less than seven times she was just support staff to the team and not an Avenger herself. He hadn’t cared. The next time she’d gone, she’d brought a signed poster of the team for him. He’d been absolutely beside himself and the next day her father informed her Sherri had had it framed and it was in Sean’s bedroom directly across his bed, so it was the first and last thing he’d see every night. 

All three lived in Hell’s Kitchen. Sean had sworn he’d seen Daredevil a few times when he’d been looking out his window or walking with his mom home from work. Michael had agreed he’d seen red-tinted shadows but he couldn’t be a hundred percent sure it was the vigilante. Nevertheless, she’d mentioned her father, Sherri, and Sean to Matt, who’d informed her he’d keep an eye out (so to speak). 

This went on for close to three weeks, the team keeping a respectful distance of her and her father when they’d go out. She still didn’t know what was up with Tony but she also knew she wouldn’t find out till he decided to tell her…or it all blew up in his face. 

Then she’d walked into the office and found Maya, one of the summer interns, waiting for her. 

“I thought you’d want to see this,” the tiny, vivacious blond said, handing over a tablet. Darcy sighed and looked down, expecting to see Tony. It was a bit of a shock to find a picture of herself at her dad’s restaurant, laughing with Sean. In the background, her father was watching. His picture was circled in red. There were more pictures and as she scrolled through them, she realized they were all of her and her dad on their lunch dates. They'd been followed. 

“‘Mystery Man for Lewis,’” Maya shook her head as Darcy actually read the article. The blonde made a face. “Someone needs do their research.” 

Maya was well aware who her dad was, as they’d bonded one long night on being left behind. The high school student had been pretty tight-lipped about her getting to know her dad, her own reunion in middle school had not gone nearly as well, but she’d supported Darcy as much as she could. Darcy knew through Clint, who watched Maya and her group like they were a television show, that the blonde's friends were hoping this would encourage Maya to reach out to her own father again. 

The blog had REALLY went the wrong direction, Darcy realized as she read. She screwed her nose up in disgust as she realized what they thought was happening. The only things they’d gotten right was that her dad owned a restaurant and had a kid. They didn’t know his last name, thought Sean was their “hidden love child,” and wondered whether the team knew about it. 

“Alright, thanks Maya,” she told her and the high school student smiled back. “Keep an eye on this for me?” 

“No problem,” she nodded and headed back to the little cubicle she’d taken over in the intern bull-pen. Shaking her head, Darcy went over to the massive computer screen that took up one entire wall of the PR department.

“FRIDAY, pull up my personal twitter page please,” she requested and the aforementioned page came up. She had two twitters she personally oversaw, her own and the team’s general account. Both were verified and while her own had significantly less than any of the teams’, she still had a ridiculous amount of people who followed her. “Link the blog article Maya found, if you would.”

The link popped up and she pulled the nearby keyboard over to type. 

**Ew much? Some people should really do their research before posting. The guy’s Michael Lewis, my father.**

Satisfied that would be the end of that, she posted the tweet and went back to work on the press conference coming up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may do a quick one-shot about Abigail re-meeting Bucky and Steve…


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things finally become clear to Darcy.

**_But your love—it isn't free, it has to be earned  
Back then I didn't have anything you needed so I was worthless_  
“Piece By Piece” Kelly Clarkson**

Her tweet caused the blog to take off the article, posting instead an apology for their assumption and promising to research better in the future. She was pleasantly surprised about their courtesy up until she found out they’d contacted her assistant to try and get an interview about how her new relationship with her father. 

A few days later, she left the subway station near her father’s restaurant to find a large crowd just outside. Slowing, she tugged her beanie down over her head more firmly, thankful it was drizzly and cold so she could get away with it. For good measure, she pulled up her hood and pulled out her umbrella. Between all of that, it was difficult to recognize her. 

Which was good, as she could see a good portion of the crowd seemed to be photographers and reporters. 

“Peter!” she called out, recognizing one of them. He turned, curious, and she waved him down. He clearly didn’t recognize her, which told her the hood and beanie were working, but he gamely came over anyway. As he neared, he finally got a good look at her face. He brightened and opened his mouth but she cut him off “Don’t say my name, I’m trying not to be noticed.”

“Good job,” the kid replied with a smile. She smiled back before motioning to the crowd. 

“What’s going on?” 

“Your dad—it is your dad’s restaurant, right?” At her nod he continued. “Anyway, your dad’s been busy as hell ever since your tweet about him.” 

He hesitated, biting his lip, and not for the first time she cursed Tony for getting someone so young involved in the team. At the same time, the uneasy feeling that had started when she got off the train and saw the crowd intensified. 

“What is it?” 

Peter swallowed and then gave her an apologetic look. “There’s a rumor going around he’s offering interviews for cash,” he said and all the air went out her lungs. “He’s talking about you…about the team.” 

“Are you sure?” she asked, voice quiet, strained, as she desperately tried calming herself down. 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I’ve heard him joking with the others…he told some chick from Vanity Fair you’re dating Steve.” 

Darcy let out a choked sound, her hood fell, and the umbrella clattered to the ground from her suddenly numb fingers. Unfortunately, this all caught the attention of one of the reporters on the outskirts. Darcy had just enough warning to pull herself into some sort of professional appearance, her fake “I hate you but I have to play nice because otherwise Tony will take it as permission to do what he likes” expression gracing her face. 

“Miss Lewis!” the man shouted and half the crowed turned to see her, camera lights flashing as she stood there. Peter gave her an apologetic look as he slunk into the background. “Miss Lewis, are you here to meet with your father?”

“Miss Lewis, is it true you’re dating Captain America?” 

“How long have you been dating?”

“Why have you kept it so quiet?” 

“Is it true Tony Stark is investing in your father’s restaurant?” 

Darcy heard all the questions, all the demands for answers, but she ignored them in favor of staring at her father, who’d appeared when the crowd gathered around her. She caught sight of a smug, joyful expression just before it shifted to something else, something wary and nervous. 

“Miss Lewis, do you have any comment about your father coming back into your life?”

That question managed to break through the heartache and confusion currently taking place in her head. Instead, upon hearing the question, it all became clear. Why Tony, the man with father issues up the yin-yang, was being weird about her dad, why the team had been pretty quiet about him, why that lunch had been so tense. She made a mental note to yell at them about it later, for not warning her. Instead, she moved past the group and headed towards where her father was staring at her like one would a wounded wolf. 

“I really thought you had changed,” she told him and the crowd behind her went utterly silent. “But you haven’t, have you?” 

“Darcy, sweetie—” he started but she cut him off. 

“You walked back into my life, making it seem like you wanted to get to know me again, to make up for lost time,” she said, making certain her words were clear and loud, so there would be no misunderstanding. “To be a _father_.” Her control was slipping but at this point, she didn’t care. She didn’t care about the crowd listening and watching and taking pictures, she didn’t care about Sherri and Sean watching from down the street, horrified and heartbroken expressions on their faces, she didn’t care about any of it.

“But you don’t know the meaning of the word, of that title, and you don’t deserve it,” she told him. It was the middle of New York, during lunch rush, and yet in that small corner street you could practically hear a pin drop. 

“A father is supposed to love his children, to watch them grow, to be proud of their successes _and_ their failures. A father’s supposed to _be there_. A father isn’t supposed to walk out on his six year old, never even saying goodbye, never even looking back. A father doesn’t…a father doesn’t tell his sixteen year old daughter that he made a mistake when he had her, that he wasn’t meant to be a dad.” 

She was crying now and she didn’t care. “I wanted to believe you had changed, that you really wanted me for me and not because I’d made something of myself. I wanted to believe that I didn’t have to prove myself to you to get your love.” 

“Darcy…you’re my daughter.” 

“Yeah, I am,” she told him. “But you’re not my Dad.”

“Yes, yes I am,” he said and he was looking more frantic, more fearful as his eyes flickered to the crowd watching and listening. If there had been any doubt about her assumptions, about her realization, that put it to rest. He was more concerned about the paparazzi than he was about her. Her tears disappeared. 

“Donating sperm doesn’t make you a Dad,” she informed him and then suddenly she realized… She gave a huffy little laugh and smiled. “I have one…and it’s not you.” 

“Your mother never remarried.” 

“No, she didn’t,” she agreed. “But there is a man who’s been protecting me, putting me first when it came to the two of us, who loves me enough to hope you had changed too even when he could see you hadn’t. Who probably already has four or five different plans I’m not going to like but that are meant to protect me and really annoy you if his suspicions proved correct.” 

“Who is she talking about?” 

“Shhh!” 

“Please be who I think it is, please be who I think it is, please be who I think it is…” 

Ignoring the voices behind her, she gave another disbelieving little laugh. “No one would ever expect him to be father material but he is. He does everything a father should and more. He may not be my father biologically or even legally but he has earned the title way more than you ever did.” 

“And who is the paragon of virtue?” he sneered and look there, his veneer had finally fallen away. How had she _ever _thought he had changed?__

__She laughed. “I never said he was a paragon of virtue, I said he was a father,” she told him. “You don’t have to be perfect to be a dad, you just have to be there. And Tony has.”_ _

__“Tony?”_ _

__“Does she mean Stark?”_ _

__“Oh, this is gonna win me a pulitzer!”_ _

__“In your dreams,” another voice scoffed and Darcy couldn’t help but laugh as Tony proved his timing could be excellent when he wanted it to be._ _

__“Goodbye, Michael,” she told him, eyes sad as Tony and Steve stepped out of the car and came up to stand on either side of her, headless of the multitude of flashing lights and furious whispering the crowd was doing. She looked up at the billionaire, who looked back down at her with a worried expression. “Let’s go. I’m finished here.”_ _

__He didn’t hesitate, didn’t question her, didn’t do anything but nod and the two led her back to the car, where Happy was glaring out the window at the dumbstruck Michael. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sherri shake her head at him, a disgusted expression on her face, before she steered her son away from the crowd. A second car pulled up to the curb and Natasha and Clint got out and spoke to them quietly before ushering them inside the sedan. She was grateful for that, as she honestly didn’t think either of them had anything to do with her dad’s manipulations…other than being pawns themselves._ _

__As she settled into the car, Tony and Steve bracketing her, she finally let the tears come._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you this was not gonna be all fluff. *hides*


	4. Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath

**_But piece by piece he collected me_  
Up off the ground where you abandoned things  
Piece by piece he filled the holes  
That you burned in me at six years old  
And you know  
He never walks away  
He never asks for money  
He takes care of me  
He loves me  
Piece by piece he restores my faith  
That a man can be kind and a father could stay  
“Piece By Piece” Kelly Clarkson**

 

_It’s a Girl for Tony Stark  
Associated Press_

_It was family drama at its finest for Darcy Lewis, 29, on Wednesday. The popular Public Relations director for the Avengers found herself front and center at Lewis Diner, the restaurant owned by her long-absent father, Michael Lewis, 50. The elderly Lewis was handing out interviews, gossiping about his daughter in exchange for cash payments. It was through his reveal that the public discovered that the Avenger Steve Rogers (Captain America), is currently in a relationship with the director. “They’ve been dating for seven months,” Michael revealed. “They’ve been keeping it quiet and actually seemed surprised no one had figured it out.”_

_Darcy came across the spectacle while going to visit the man. She had some choice words for the man, informing him that “a father isn’t supposed to walk out on a six year old” and that she had “really wanted to believe” that he had changed, that he “really wanted (her) for (her) and not because (she’d) made something of herself.” Then she stunned Michael and the watching crowd by claiming Tony Stark, billionaire superhero Ironman, as a far better father to her than he had ever been. “He may not be my father biologically or even legally but he has earned the title way more than you ever did,” she informed him just moments before the man in question arrived by car, accompanied by the aforementioned Rogers. Neither man appeared pleased as they gather Darcy up and left with her. Michael fielded questions for about ten minutes after they left before closing his restaurant for the day._

_Stark, who was not there for the fervent declaration of fatherhood by Darcy, tweeted an hour after the confrontation. For a man who often ignores the 140 character length, he was surprisingly succinct, with just three words: “It’s a girl!” Potts, CEO of Stark Industries and Stark’s fiancee, re-tweeted the declaration in seconds. What followed was a veritable fountain of support from the various Avengers, support staff, and even other superhero groups._

_It remains to be seen if the dual claiming will have any impact on Stark Industries or the Avengers. Calls for official comments from Michael Lewis and the Avengers were not returned at the time of publication._

~~*~~

**tasersandlattes:** This will be the only tweet I post about this: My sperm donor is Michael Lewis. My father is Tony Stark. End of story. 

**tasersandlattes:** Oh, and my mom laughed herself sick when she found out what I did. So, you know, there’s that. 

~~*~~

_Party Time at Avengers Tower  
Associated Press_

_It was party time at Avengers Tower Friday, with Tony Stark throwing a Disney-themed birthday party for Darcy Lewis, the Avenger Public Relations Director he’s claimed as his “daughter I never thought I’d ever want.” The now 30 year old celebrated in style, surrounded by ONLY Avengers and sundry support staff. The sole exception to this were Sherri and Sean Richards, her biological father’s ex-girlfriend and her son, as well as the family and close friends of one of Lewis’ high school interns._

_The superhero team dressed up for the occasion, each choosing a Disney character. Lewis, Stark, Pepper Potts, and Steve Rogers were, appropriately, dressed as Rapunzel, the King, Queen, and Flynn “Eugene” Ryder from Tangled. Natasha Romanoff came dressed as Continue_

~~*~~

**JadelynTate:** @tonystark Didn’t @thereadlthor claim @tasersandlattes as his sister in that Ellen interview? Does that make you the AllFather?

**TonyStark:** @JadelynTate @therealthor @tasersandlattes this is a good point. I henceforth demand all refer to me as the AllFather!

**tasersandlattes:** @tonystark @jadelyntate @therealthor *snorts* Good luck with that, Dad. 

~~*~~

_Lewis Diner Goes Out of Business  
Associated Press_

_Life has certainly taken a downward turn for Michael Lewis, 52, the disowned father of Avengers Public Relations director Darcy Lewis. After being publicly outed by photographers and reporters for cashing in on his connection to the popular support staff member, the man has had a string of bad luck. All but one member of his staff quit after the reveal, leaving him scrambling for cooks and waitresses. After that, the front windows were covered in large posters declaring him a “despicable human being” with cutouts of the various articles about his manipulations against his daughter. Despite taking them down daily, they reappeared every morning for close to a month. It finally took a politely worded tweet from Darcy Lewis herself for the still unknown perpetrators to stop._

_Then, to add insult to injury, Reed Richards, CEO of Baxter International, bought up the property where his diner is located. Richards, also known as the hero leader of the Fantastic Four, raised the rent for Lewis and three other tenants. The rest of the properties in the area were sold and demolished to make way for a new office complex. Continue_

~~*~~

**TonyStark:** Sweet Ol Child of Mine instagram.com/p/BGaV6JhNazH/

**SteveRogers1918:** @tonystark Was this before or after she dumped a glass of wine over your head? 

**CawCawHawkeye:** @steverogers1918 @tonystark after, you can tell because she’s not awake and yelling at him

**ImNotTheSoldierYoureLookingFor:** @tonystark You do realize they will never find your body once she sees you took a picture of her sleeping, right?

~~*~~

_Lewis Changes Name  
Associated Press_

_Darcy Lewis, 30, legally changed her name this weekend. No, she and boyfriend Steve Rogers, Captain America, didn’t get married. Instead, the Avengers publicist came through on her long-standing claim to Tony Stark. Darcy Anne Lewis is officially Darcy Ann Mitchell-Stark._

_“I wanted to leave the Lewis name behind me, it’s not who I am or who I want to be associated with any longer,” the fiesty brunette said in a press release. This is an allusion to the attempt of her biological father, Michael Lewis, to cash in on his daughter’s fame. Instead, the once restaurant owner filed for bankruptcy last month when his establishment went under. “My mother offered to let me change my name to her maiden name when I was sixteen but I was still holding out hope. I know who I am now and that is NOT a Lewis.”_

_While the first part of her surname is in deference of her mother, Darcy decided to also add the Stark in deference to Tony stark, who has all but legally adopted the young woman as his daughter. Stark and wife Pepper Potts have both tweeted pictures of the official paperwork, as well as a picture of the Stark couple with Darcy and her mother sharing a bottle of wine. Continue_

~~*~~

**TonyStark:** I finally convinced her to make it legal. Best thing to ever come out of the Stark family and she’s mine, all mine! RE: @TheNYTimes “Tony Stark Makes Mitchell-Stark Official Heir”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for your wonderful support and comments! Not exactly what I know some of you expected but I was really happy with how I closed this up, especially given Darcy's job. It also leaves it open ended for you to come up with your own theories as to what the team did to Michael.... ;)
> 
> I have more stuff I'm working on, including more one-shots and stuff. I'm posting ficcage stuff over on [my tumblr](http://jadelyntate.tumblr.com/) if you're interested.


End file.
